AFC DESERVES A NEW LOSER, BUT GETS A SEQUEL, INSTEAD

Bernie Lincicome, Chicago TribuneCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Oh, no. Buffalo. Again.

Eventually the AFC will figure out some way to keep Buffalo out of the Super Bowl, though fodder is fodder, even familiar fodder like the Bills, and it is not likely that any team from the Almost Football Conference is going to win the thing anyway.

Making the Bills play an extra game as a wild card couldn't do it. Giving them a quarterback controversy couldn't do it. Injuring nearly all their key players couldn't do it.

Putting them up against Dan Marino, Don Shula and the natural hostility that greets all tourists in paradise couldn't do it.

So, like the demons in Poltergeist, they're baaaaack.

"If we're a sequel," said receiver Don Beebe, "I'd rather be Rocky."

OK. Super Bowl XXVII. Buffalo III. Dallas VI.

Still, with all the possibilities when these eliminations began, maybe the Bills could have done the decent thing and left the stage to somebody a bit fresher. The 49ers were kind enough to stop hogging the floor. The Bills are the date from hell who won't take no for an answer.

"We will get it done this time," swore running back Kenneth Davis, as if anyone believed him. Or cared.

"After we were written off, we had no choice but to get to the Super Bowl," said linebacker Darryl Talley.

His audience did not overwhelm him with cries of thanks.

At least Buffalo isn't Denver, which chokes in these things with huge, galloping gulps. But neither is it San Diego, Cinderella in a cleated slipper. Or Houston, overdue and overripe. Or Pittsburgh, the renewed dynasty. And by a wide amount, it is not Miami, famed of coach and quarterback but a single digit from a suicide hot line.

Every AFC franchise ought to be given a chance to lose a Super Bowl before they redraw the brackets so that a Dallas and a San Francisco can play later than the semifinals.

But, no, the Bills are perfectly proud of what they've done and plan on showing up promptly in Pasadena.

"Hemingway identified character as grace under pressure," burbled Bills coach Marv Levy, misquoting a cliche (courage, not character) but pretty much previewing the next two weeks when every second inquiry to the Bills will be how they are holding up under the Curse of Successive Roman Numerals.

"Underdog, overdog," said Talley. "The important thing is we're the dog who's out there."

After dismissing the Dolphins 29-10 Sunday, the Bills ran off the field past the Miami fans and were greeted with the chant of "0-3! 0-3!" This was not just the scorn of a rival constituency but an instant reminder of how the Bills could be identified in Super Bowls.

"The two teams are treated equally before a Super Bowl," said Don Shula, who lost four of the six he has been in, "but afterwards, only one is remembered."

Dolphins linebacker Bryan Cox predicted the Bills would not win. "I still don't like half of them (the half he couldn't tackle, no doubt). Anyway, I'm rooting for San Francisco."

A day of double disappointment for Cox.

Only one other team, Miami, has gone to three Super Bowls in a row, and no team has ever lost three in a row.

"Our concern," said Levy, "is winning one straight."

The Bills are already trying to convince themselves that this one will be different.

"The way we got there this time is the most gratifying," said Bebee. "We had that great comeback (against Houston) and then we won two big games on the road in a row. You get the feeling that this one is a charm."

Most of the big Bills were hurt but played exceptionally well-Bruce Smith, Cornelius Bennett, Thurman Thomas and, most prominently, quarterback Jim Kelly. His health was less debatable than whether he should replace replacement Frank Reich.

"This is without a doubt the sweetest victory I've ever been involved with," Kelly said. "I felt like I had to apologize for feeling good."

Hard to figure why. Kelly still hasn't apologized for losing two Super Bowls.

"We have been dubbed the team who can't win a Super Bowl," admitted defensive end Phil Hansen.